Lantern.



R. LEWIS.

LANTERN.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.13,'1913.

1,090,728. Patented Mar.17,1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J J2 a f Witnesses MWM',

Inventor COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0., WASHINGTON. n. L.

R. LEWIS.

LANTERN.

APPLICATION FILED DBG.13, 1913.

1,090,728. Patented Mar. 17, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ROBERT LEWIS, OF TOIPEKA, KANSAS.

LANTERN.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT Lnwrs, a citizenof the United States, residing at Topeka, in the county of Shawnee andState of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Lantern, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to lanterns especially designed for use byrailroads, although the same can be used for the various purposes forwhich lanterns are ordinarily employed.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a lantern havingmeans whereby the wick can be ignited without necessitating the openingof the lantern.

A further object is to provide a lantern having a magazine containingmatches which can be fed one at a time to position with their headsclose to the wick end.

A further object is to provide means operated from a point outside ofthe lantern for striking the match so that the flame produced willignite the wick.

Another object is to provide improved means operated from a pointoutside of the lantern for trimming the wick of the lantern.

Another object is to provide a wick trimming device which alsoconstitutes means for extinguishing the flame issuing from the wick.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within thescope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

In said drawings :-Figure 1 is an elevation of a lantern having thepresent improvements combined therewith. Fig. 2 is atop plan view of theoil reservoir and the parts carried thereby. Fig. 3 is a bottom planview of the oil reservoir and the parts carried thereby. Fig. 4 is asection on line AB Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a section on line C-D Fig. 2. Fig.6 is a transverse section on an enlarged scale through the Specificationof Letters Patent.

Application filed December 13, 1913.

Patented Mar. 17,1914

Serial No. 806,491.

compartment in the reservoir and through the magazine contained therein.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates an oilreservoir adapted to be held in any suitable manner within the base 2 ofa lantern, this base being provided with the usual globe protecting cage3 extending to the top or cap 4 of the lantern. The bottom of thereservoir 1 is exposed as ordinarily, within the bottom portion of thebase 2 and, consequently, certain of the operating parts of themechanism constituting the present invention can be arranged upon thebottom of the reservoir.

The reservoir is preferably formed with a false bottom 2 and extendingfrom the said false bottom and upwardly to the top of the reservoir is acentral compartment 3' preferably oblong in cross sectional contour andout of communication with that portion of the reservoir surrounding it.A burner 4 is adapted to be screwed into the top of the reservoir andhas a wick tube 5 which opens into the reservoir at one side of thecompartment- 3, as shown particularly in Fig. 5. The compartment 3 isclosed at its upper end except for a circular opening 6 formed at oneside of the center thereof and which is sufficiently large to permit amatch to pass readily therethro-ugh. A guide tube 7 is carried by andextends through the burner 4 close to and parallel with the wick tube 5and this guide tube is so positioned that, when the burner 4 is screwedinto place with its lower face bearing upon the upper end of thecompartment 3, the said tube 7 will register with the opening 6. Thelower end of the compartment 3 is normally closed by means of a slide 8which may be held in place by cleats 9 secured to the false bottom 2.This slide is of such length that it cannot be removed unless thereservoir 1 is detached from the base 2, the wall of the base serving toprevent the withdrawal of the slide from the cleats.

Removably mounted within the compartment 3' is a magazine made up of afiat substantially elliptical casing 10 open at its upper and lower endsand provided, at the center of one side, with a longitudinal oitsetportion 11 of such size as to hold a single match. This offset portionis open at its upper and lower ends, the upper end registering with theopening 6 in the top of the compartment 3. Mounted to slide and rotatewithin the offset portion 11 is a plunger 12 the lower end of which isformed with a radially extending arm 13 connected to the false bottom 2by a spring 14. The plunger 12 carries a cam 15 adapted, when theplunger is moved upwardly, to move against a roller 16 mounted on abail-like latch 17 which is slidably mounted on the false bottom andextends across the slide 8. This latch has a tongue 18 which is heldnormally in a predetermined position by a spring 19 mounted on one sideof the latch and which bears at one end against the latch and at itsother end against an eye 20 in which the 'latch is mounted to slide. Anangular guide finger 21 extends from the false bottom 2 and engages oneside of the latch, as shown in Fig. 3.

Extending within the reservoir 1 and parallel with the compartment 3 isan imperforate guide tube 22, this tube being open at its ends anddisposed beyond the burner 4. Mounted to slide and rotate within thetube is a stem 23 provided at its lower end with a radial arm 24. Aspring 25 connects this arm to the false bottom 2 and when the latch 17is in its normal position, its tongue 18 can be caused to engage thefree end of the arm 24, thus to hold the arm in the position shown inFig. 3 and with its spring 25 under tension. The stem 23 has a collar 26against which bears a spring 27 which is mounted on the stem and has itslower end bearing upon the top of the reservoir 1. Thus the stem 23 isyieldingly supported. Secured to the upper end of the stem is a pin gear28 or the like and extending horizontally from the upper end of the stem23 is a blade 29 the lower face of which is roughened in any preferredmanner as by forming small teeth 30 upon said lower face. This blade 29is normally positioned in a horizontal plane extending above the wicktube 5.

A post 31 is mounted on the reservoir and mounted for rotation upon theupper end portion thereof is a gear 32 to which is secured a knife blade33. This blade is adapted to swing in a horizontal plane and to passclose to the upper end of the wick tube 5. The blade is normallypositioned beyond one side of the wick tube, as shown in Fig. 2 and thepins of the gear 28 are normally out of mesh with the gear 32, as willbe seen by referring to Fig. 5.

In using the apparatus herein described, the plunger 12 is drawndownwardly against the action of spring 14 and until it is completelywithdrawn from the slide 8. Said slide is then withdrawn from its cleats9, it being understood of course that the reservoir 1 is out of positionwithin the base 2 during this operation. After the slide has beenremoved, the magazine is withdrawn from the compartment 3. As shown inthe drawings this magazine has upper and lower parallel guide rods 34 onwhich followers 35 are mounted to slide, there being springs 36 on therods for pressing the followers toward each other. Consequently when themagazine is withdrawn from the 1 gitudinally within the offset portion11, thus lifting into the guide tube 7 the match which is located in theoHset portion 11. The upward movement of the plunger will be brought toastop by the cam 15 coming against the slide 9. vl/Vhen it is desired tolight the lantern, the plunger 12 is pulled downwardly a short distanceby means of the arm 13 so a to bring cam 15 below the roller 16. Whenthe plunger is drawn to this position, the match supported thereby willmove downwardly into the tube 7 as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. While theplunger 12 is being held 'in partly lowered position, the arm 24 isswung against the stress of its spring 25 so as to be engaged by thetongue 18, as shown in Fig. 3. Thus the striking plate29 will be broughtto position over the tube 7. By now releasing the plunger 12, the spring14 will draw it upwardly, thus elevating the match thereon until itshead comes against the roughened portion of the striking plate 29. Atthe same time cam 15 will come against the roller 16 and shift the latch17 longitudinally so as to withdraw the tongue 18 from engagement witharm 24. As soon as this arm is released spring 25 will swing it tonormal position, thereby causing the stem 23 to rotate and to swing thestrikin plate 29 horizontally. The roughened surface of the strikingplate will cause the match to become ignited and the flame from thematch will spread to the exposed end of the wick. The burned match canbe left in the tube '7 and, when it is desired to extinguish the light,it i merely necessaryto pull clownwardly on the stem 23 through handle24' thus bringing certain of the pins of the gear 28 into engagementwith" gear 32. By then rotating the stem 23, gear 32 will be caused torotate and the blade 33 will swing across i the upper end of the wick,thereby extinguishing the flame and at the same time trimming the wick.By then reversing the movement of thestem 23, the blade 33 will bereturned to its initial position and spring 27 will elevate the strikingplate 29 to its initial position. When it is desired again to light thelantern, the plunger 12 is drawn downwardly until its upper end isbrought into position under the matches in the magazine whereupon one ofthe matches will be fed into the offset portion 11 and to position abovethe plunger. By then permitting the plunger to move upwardly, the matchresting thereon and which has been forced under the previously usedmatch before the same has had a chance to gravitate into positionbetween the matches, will push the previously used match upwardly out ofthe tube 7 so that it will fall onto the reservoir 1. The plunger 12 isthen lowered to bring cam 15 to position under roller 16, as shown inFig. 1-, thus permitting the fresh match to move downwardly in the tube7. The stem 31 is then rotated and secured in the manner hereinbeforedescribed to bring the striking plate 29 into position above the matchafter which, by releasing plunger 12, the match will be raised andignited in the manner hereinbefore set forth.

As shown in the drawings, a bracket 37 may be mounted loosely on theparts 23 and 31 so as to hold them together.

What is claimed is 1. In a lantern, a match holding compartment, a guideextending therefrom, means,

for feeding matches one at a time from said compartment and into theguide, a striking element adjacent the guide, means for lockin g saidelement in one position, and means operated by the match feeding meansfor releasing the striking element when a match is brought into positionto be engaged thereby, and means for automatically actuating the matchstriking element when released.

2. In a lantern the combination with a fuel reservoir having acompartment therein and out of communication therewith, of a burnerincluding a wick tube communicating with the reservoir and a guide tubeextending along the wick tube and communicating with the compartment inthe reservoir, a magazine within the compartment, means for feedingmatches one at a time from the magazine and into the guide tube, astriking element adjacent the upper end of the guide tube, means forlocking the striking element in position above the tube, and meansoperated by the match feeding means for releasing the striking elementwhen a match i brought into position to be engaged thereby, and meansfor automatically actuating the match striking element when released.

3. The combination with a fuel reservoir, a wick tube extendingtherefrom, a compartment within and out of communication with thereservoir, and a guide tube communicating with the compartment and lyingclose to the wick tube, of means for feeding matches one at a time fromthe compartment and into the guide tube, a spring actuated strikingelement movably mounted adjacent the guide tube, means for holding saidelement in position over the tube, and means operated by the matchfeeding means for releasing the striking element automatically when amatch is brought into contact therewith.

4. The combination with a fuel reservoir, a compartment therein and outof communication therewith, a wick tube extending from the reservoir,and a guide tube communicating with the compartment and close to thewick tube, of a plunger slidably mounted within the compartment forfeeding matches one at a time to the guide tube,

a striking element mounted to swing across the upper end of the guidetube, means for actuating said striking element, means for holding thestriking element in position above the tube, and means operated by theplunger while moving a match against the striking element, to releasesaid element.

5. The combination with a fuel reservoir and a compartment therein butout of communication therewith, of a wick tube eX- tending from thereservoir, a guide tube communicating with the compartment and close tothe wick tube, a magazine removably mounted in the compartment, aplunger mounted to slide within the magazine for directing matches oneat a time into the guide tube from the magazine, means for automaticallyfeeding matches into the path of the plunger when the plunger isretracted out of normal position, yielding means for holding the plungernormally in one position, a striking element, means for securing saidelement in position above the upper end of the guide tube, and meansoperated by the plunger while elevating a match, for releasing saidstriking element, and means for automatically actuating the strikingelement when released.

6. The combination with a fuel reservoir and a compartment therein butout of communication therewith, of a wick tube communicating with thereservoir, a guide tube communicating with the compartment and close tothe wick tube, a magazine including a casing open at its ends and havinga longitudinally extending ofiset portion, spring pressed followerswithin the magazine for supplying matches one at a time to said ofisetportion, a spring controlled plunger slidably mounted within the offsetportion and normally bearing upwardly against the match to hold itwithin the guide tube, a striking element mounted to swing across theend of the guide tube, means for holding the striking element inposition above the guide "tube, means operated by the plunger whenelevating a match to release the striking element, and means forautomatically actuating the striking element when released to ignite thesupported match.

7. In a lantern, the combination with a fuel reservoir and a wick tubeextending upwardly therefrom, of means controlled from a point under thereservoir for posil tioning matches one at a time at one side of thewick tube, means normally held against movement, for automaticallyigniting a match, and means for automatically releasing said ignitingmeans when a match is brought into position for engagement thereby.

8. In a lantern, the combination with a fuel reservoir and a wick tubeextending therefrom, of means controlled from a point below thereservoir for positioning matches one at a time close to the wick tube,a light extinguisher mounted to swing in a horizontal plane close to theupper end of the wick tube, said extinguisher consisting of a cuttingblade, a match striking element mounted to swing above the positionedmatch, means for actuating said element from a point below thereservoir, and means revoluble with said striking element for actuatingthe light extinguishing blade.

9. In a lantern, the combination with a fuel reservoir and a wick tubeextending therefrom, of means for positioning matches one at a timeclose to and at one side of the wick tube, a combined wick trimmer andlight extinguisher mounted to swing across the upper end of the wicktube, a gear revoluble therewith, a stem slidably and revolubly mountedwithin and above the reservoir, a striking plate movable therewith, anda gear movable with the stem, said gear be ing normally out of mesh withthe first named gear, and means below the reservoir" and connected tothe stem for shifting said stem and its gear to bring the two gears 1nmesh and for rotating the stem and gears to actuate the lightextinguisher.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT V LENIS; lVitnesses:

KENNETH RAUB, JOHN M. WVRIGHT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five fints each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

